美企欲建華盛頓至紐約磁懸浮鐵路

WASHINGTON — A group of Washington investors with high-level political backing and a $5 billion commitment from the Japanese government is pressing ahead with its vision of a high-speed train that could whisk passengers between New York and Washington in about an hour.

華盛頓——一羣擁有高層政治背景並已贏得日本政府出資50億美元（約合300億元人民幣）保證的華盛頓投資者正在着手推進他們心中構想的高速列車建設，力圖將紐約和華盛頓之間的客運時長縮短到大約一小時。

The train, which uses a technology called magnetic levitation, or maglev, to float above the track on magnets instead of wheels, would travel at twice the speed of Amtrak’s Acela. It is one of several high-speed rail projects proposed for the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor, where chronic traffic congestion and flight delays are expected to get worse.

這種列車使用一種名爲“磁懸浮”的技術，藉助磁力懸浮在軌道上，而非使用車輪。它的行駛速度將達到美鐵(Amtrak)阿西樂列車(Acela)的兩倍。爲了給交通繁忙的東北走廊分擔壓力，目前出現了數個高速鐵路項目的提議，而磁懸浮計劃是其中之一。據預計，東北走廊長期的交通擁堵和航班延誤現象將進一步惡化。

At a total estimated cost of $100 billion, critics say a maglev train on the East Coast is little more than a pipe dream. But that has not stopped the investors from pushing the project.

鑑於估算的總花費爲1000億美元，批評人士表示，在東海岸建造磁懸浮列車不過是癡人說夢。不過，這未能阻止投資者去推動這個項目。

On a test track in Japan on Tuesday, a prototype train whooshed a group of visiting Americans through mountains at a top speed of 314 miles per hour — so fast, in fact, that Christie Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and one of the Americans on the ride, said trips on Amtrak between Washington and New York were “embarrassing” by comparison.

週二，一列原型車在日本的測試軌道上，以314英里（約合505公里）的最高時速載着一羣美國客人飛速穿越羣山——速度非常之快，以致於此次測試的美國乘客之一、新澤西州前州長克里斯蒂·託德·惠特曼(Christie Todd Whitman)禁不住感嘆，相比之下，乘美鐵列車往返華盛頓和紐約有些“令人難堪”。

To Ms. Whitman, the train is a solution to transportation problems back home, where the Acela — the fastest train in the United States — takes 2 hours 45 minutes to travel between New York and Washington.

在惠特曼看來，這種火車可以解決美國國內的交通問題。在美國，乘坐阿西樂——美國最快的列車——往返紐約和華盛頓，單程需要2小時45分鐘。

Ms. Whitman is part of a high-powered advisory board for the Northeast Maglev, a private Washington-based company with a goal of building the Washington-to-New York line. The group, which regularly visits Japan to pursue the project and has taken at least three test rides on the train, is trying to convince skeptical American policy makers and investors that the maglev makes financial and political sense.

惠特曼是東北磁懸浮公司(Northeast Maglev)一個充滿權勢人物的顧問委員會的成員。這是一家設在華盛頓的私營企業，其目標是修建華盛頓至紐約的磁懸浮鐵路。這羣顧問經常前往日本推進項目，而且已至少三次試坐這種火車。他們試圖使持懷疑態度的美國決策者和投資人相信，磁懸浮列車在經濟和政治上都行得通。

The advisory board includes former Gov. George E. Pataki of New York; Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, who also rode on the train in Japan on Tuesday; former Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania; and Mary Peters, who was a secretary of transportation in the George W. Bush administration. Since 2010, the group has spent $1.4 million lobbying Congress and meeting with state and local officials to build support for the project.

該顧問委員會的成員包括紐約州前州長喬治·E·帕塔基(George E. Pataki)、週二也在日本乘坐了火車的前參議院多數黨領袖湯姆·達施勒(Tom Daschle)、賓夕法尼亞州前州長愛德華·G·倫德爾(Edward G. Rendell)，以及喬治·W·布什(George W. Bush)政府的運輸部長瑪麗·彼得斯(Mary Peters)。從2010年開始，爲了爭取對該項目的支持，他們已經斥資140萬美元來遊說國會並與州級和地方官員舉行會晤。

To try to win public support, the group has commitments from the Japanese government to invest about $5 billion to pay part of the cost of construction of the first leg, an estimated $10 billion route between Washington and Baltimore. The maglev would enable travelers to go between the two cities in as little as 15 minutes.

爲了盡力贏得公衆支持，他們獲得了日本政府出資50億美元的承諾。這筆錢將用來支付第一段鐵路線的部分建設費用。這段鐵路將連接華盛頓與巴爾的摩，預計造價爲100億美元。在磁懸浮技術的幫助下，乘客只需最少15分鐘就能在這兩座城市之間穿梭。

But large obstacles remain.

不過，現實中還是存在一些巨大障礙。

Given the project’s cost, the maglev company would need support from the federal government, but transportation advocates are skeptical that it will be forthcoming. And the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, which supports more conventional high-speed rail systems, has dismissed the maglev train as too expensive and experimental.

由於項目開支巨大，東北磁懸浮公司將需要聯邦政府提供支持，但交通行業的活躍人士對此表示懷疑。支持更傳統的高鐵系統的美國高速鐵路聯合會(U.S. High-Speed Rail Association)認爲，磁懸浮列車過於昂貴且處於試驗階段，不宜考慮。

In addition, the maglev company would have to secure rights of way to build the specialized tracks, a serious financial undertaking on some of the most expensive real estate in the country. The company plans to build a large part of its route underground, which would add to the cost.

此外，這家磁懸浮公司還必須獲得在美國某些最昂貴的地段上修建專用軌道的通行權，而這是一項重大經濟負擔。公司計劃把很大一部分路線建在地下，將令成本進一步增加。

But Wayne Rogers, an investor in renewable energy and other projects and chairman and chief executive of Northeast Maglev, said the train makes more sense than current proposals to fix transportation problems in the Northeast, including building more roads and fixing tracks to make Amtrak trains go faster. Adding more highways in the region would increase congestion, he said.

然而，東北磁懸浮公司的董事長兼首席執行官韋恩·羅傑斯(Wayne Rogers)表示，和當前爲解決東北地區的運輸問題而提出的其他建議相比，磁懸浮列車更合理。相關提議包括，修更多公路，以及升級軌道，以便讓美鐵列車行駛得更快。身爲可再生能源等項目的投資人的羅傑斯說，在該地區多修公路會加劇擁堵。

As for fixing existing tracks to speed up Amtrak trains, “It’s like putting a Ferrari on the crowded Beltway around Washington: It’s not going to make it go any faster,” Mr. Rogers said.

至於升級現有軌道，以便讓美鐵列車提速，羅傑斯說，“就像把法拉利放在繞華盛頓的環形公路上一樣：根本不會讓它跑得更快。”

(Amtrak has its own plans to provide high-speed rail on the corridor: a $151 billion proposal to upgrade its existing system to make it easier for trains to travel at 220 m.p.h., which would reduce the trip between New York and Washington to about 90 minutes. Congressional critics and some transportation experts have called the proposal too costly.)

（在爲東北走廊提供高速鐵路方面，美鐵有着自己的計劃：一項耗資1510億美元的提議要求升級現有系統，以便讓列車更易於以220英里的時速運行。這將使紐約與華盛頓之間的交通時間減少到大約90分鐘。國會的批評人士和部分運輸專家稱，該方案成本過高。）

Another supporter of the maglev, James P. RePass, chairman of the National Corridors Initiative in Boston, which supports increased federal and private investment in rail projects, said he was previously skeptical of the train project, but has changed his mind.

同樣支持磁懸浮的還有全美走廊倡議組織(National Corridors Initiative)主席詹姆斯·P·裏帕斯(James P. RePass)。該組織位於波士頓，提倡聯邦和私人增加對鐵路項目投資。裏帕斯表示，他以前對磁懸浮列車計劃持懷疑態度，但現已改變主意。

“If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said not a chance,” Mr. RePass said. “But this proposal, which seemed unlikely in the past, is gaining credibility. The reason is that unlike a lot of projects, this one actually has money.”

“如果兩年前問我，我會說根本不可能，”裏帕斯說。“但過去看似不太可能的這個提議，現在越來越可信。原因在於，不同於許多項目，這一個實際上自帶資金。”

Mr. Daschle, who heads the advisory board for Northeast Maglev, dismisses concerns about the maglev technology.

東北磁懸浮公司顧問委員會主席達施勒駁斥了對磁懸浮技術的擔憂。

“You can’t be a skeptic on the technological side anymore, because it’s been shown to work,” he said after his ride on the train.

“你無法再在技術方面質疑了，因爲它已經被證明是可行的，”他在試坐完磁懸浮列車後說。

Mr. Rogers said the company was moving ahead with its plans: It has filed an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission to transfer the franchise rights of the defunct Washington Baltimore & Annapolis railroad to Northeast Maglev, the first step in getting the project off the ground. The company will need additional approvals from the Surface Transportation Board and the Federal Railroad Administration. Without the transfer of the franchise rights, the company would have to ask the Maryland General Assembly to approve a new franchise agreement, a process that could take years.

羅傑斯表示，公司正在推進自己的計劃：它已向馬里蘭州公共服務委員會(Maryland Public Service Commission)遞交了申請，請求將現已停止服務的華盛頓至巴爾的摩再到安納波利斯鐵路的特許經營權轉讓給東北磁懸浮公司。這是啓動項目的第一步。公司另外還需獲得地面運輸委員會(Surface Transportation Board)和聯邦鐵路管理局(Federal Railroad Administration)的批准。如果不能通過轉讓獲得特許經營權，公司將不得不提請馬里蘭州議會批准一項新的特許經營協議。這一步可能需要花費數年時間。

“We can’t wait around until political and financial conditions are perfect,” Mr. Rogers said. “The transportation infrastructure on the Northeast Corridor is in bad shape. We need to get moving.”

“我們不能一直等到政治和財務狀況都完備，”羅傑斯說。“目前東北走廊的運輸基礎設施狀況很糟糕。我們需要行動起來。”